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Georgia Dome is Demolished

November 20, 2017

The stadium that has served as the home of NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and seen an estimated 37 million visitors over its 25-year lifespan went out with a bang today. The Georgia Dome was demolished this morning, having been replaced in the summer by the neighboring Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

When it opened in 1992, the Georgia Dome was the world’s largest covered oval stadium, with a fabric cable-dome structure spanning 770 by 610 feet. Its innovative cable-supported fabric roof was a milestone in the development of lightweight structures. Thornton Tomasetti was there from the start as the engineer of the innovative structure, and as things have now come full circle, we were retained by HHRM – a joint venture of Holder Construction Company, Hunt Construction Group, H.J. Russell & Company and C.D. Moody Construction Company – for its explosive demolition.

Our team assessed the viability of the dynamic demolition plan proposed by Pettigrew Inc. by performing detailed computer analyses of the implosion, which allowed for optimization of the explosive placement and sequencing. And like in the ’90s when our engineers saw the project constructed, our staff was on site today to watch it come down and to ensure its demolition would be carried out successfully.

The former stadium site will be redeveloped into a “Home Depot Backyard” featuring 13 acres of greenspace for game-day parking, arts and culture events, entertainment and community events year-round, starting in 2018. A new convention hotel is also planned.